Sometimes Things Are Better The Second Time Around
by Noel Edge
Summary: Now, Jade West realizes, she needs to pick her battles. But she's still Jade. She'll always be Jade. No one can change that, not even Beck Oliver. One shot. Beck/Jade


I haven't written any Bade in a long while so to commemorate their reunion, here's a little something I wrote. I'm just glad my babies are back together.

**I don't own anything, that privilege goes to the one and only Dan Schneider.**

xxx

It was the same and different both at the same time when Jade and Beck got back together. She really hadn't known what to expect in some ways because really, it had been a few months since the breakup and it had taken awhile for either of them to even get comfortable being in the same room together. Slowly though, the bitterness had faded and this weird disconnected feeling she had never ever thought would descend between them, in fact had. It was almost like being acquaintances. Maybe even friends? She shuddered when she thought about her and Beck as 'just friends'. It's not that she didn't think lovers should be friends, of course she did. Deep down she had always considered Beck her BEST friend.

BUT, this… this weird, vague feeling that had come to define the two of them since the breakup felt like a much more impersonal type of 'friendship'. It was like they would kind of talk to each other like that one friend that always tagged along with any given group of friends when you were all together, but you would never hang out with alone. The one that you never could understand completely because you couldn't really find any common ground with said person. And it had felt strange to Jade, feeling like she didn't understand Beck anymore and vice versa.

It had never REALLY felt like friends though, honestly. It had felt more like they had become strangers, even as she had been able to recall with perfect clarity, the way he had shoved her up against the inside of his RV door when they made out. She remembered all the times she had left hickies all over his neck, the ones innocent little Cat constantly inquired about at their lunch table which left Tori blushing furiously, Robbie looking terribly uncomfortable, and Andre trying to divert her attention and change the subject. Jade however, would just smirk at Beck, quirk her eyebrows and take a bite of her salad.

And now, as she rode in Beck's car with him to school in the morning, something she hadn't done in far too long, until lately that is, she propped her boots up on the inside of the rolled down passenger's side window, not quite out of the window, but enough for Beck to comment that she could lose a foot that way. She hadn't argued back with him, which was one thing she was learning to do now that they were back together. She knew Beck made these comments because he cared about her, but she also knew that she had to choose her battles now. There was no reason to make a fight over everything, especially the little things that weren't important. So, now, while she didn't say anything back, she also didn't take her feet down because, come on, she's still Jade West. Nothing could change that, not even Beck Oliver.

"Hard-headed til' the end then, babe?" He comments, looking over to half-smile at her in an affectionate way.

She had missed that lazy, boyish grin. She really had.

She kind of smiles back, but says nothing, turns to look back out the window. She feels rather than sees him take a hand from the wheel and stretch it across the seat to her. Intuitively, she reaches back and places her hand in his, their fingers lacing together. Her smile widens because this is the way it's supposed to be, her and Beck together, always. It feels like coming home.

It's funny how a relationship can get even better the second time around. When they arrive to school, Beck still holds her hand, something that they had kind of stopped doing for awhile there before their breakup. She didn't know what had happened to them. Well, she did, the fighting and the jealousy, and she knew she had pushed Beck. A lot. More than she cared to mention, but this, being together with him again, made her realize how far they had really drifted from each other.

He let's go only to go to his own locker to get a book, but he doesn't leave her without pressing a kiss to her lips first. She thinks briefly about burying her fingers in his ridiculous hair and kissing him until he's breathless, but holds back because she doesn't need to show off anymore, doesn't need to feel insecure about their relationship. So, she simply smirks at him and watches him turn to leave before turning to her locker and gathering her own books.

When she's done, she closes her locker and turns to join Beck, but Tori has already beaten her to that. They seem to be chatting about something so Jade takes her phone out and pretends to be busy, because she's so over being clingy. This is a new chapter for her and Beck, she can feel it. Not exactly a fresh start, but something better than that.

Cat turns up a few moments later and she has gum, a detail like that never escapes Jade West. Jade simply holds her hand out without asking and Cat knows exactly what she wants. Cat is chattering away about something that Jade isn't really listening to and she drops a piece of wrapped chewing gum into Jade's outstretched palm without missing a beat. When you've been friends this long, words seem superfluous somehow. Jade peels back the silvery wrapper and shoves the gum into her mouth, wintergreen apparently. Which is weird. She expected it to be something more Cat-like. Like, pink bubblegum… or strawberry… or something. Then again, who ever knows with Cat? She's a mystery. Kind of.

She and Cat head off to class together, leaving Vega and Beck to discuss whatever they're, well, discussing. Jade doesn't really care, to be honest. She sits down, and Cat takes a seat in front of her, knowing fully well that the seat next to Jade will now once again be taken by none other than Beck. She's STILL talking and Jade doesn't have an inkling what it is she's blathering on about, because she's thinking about the other night when she had been hanging out at Beck's RV for the first time in a long time. They had been sitting on his bed together watching How I Met Your Mother, which she had always pretended to hate before they broke up, but had always secretly liked and definitely found funny enough. (It was these stupid fights that Jade really had thought about while they were broken up. All the pointless things she used to get mad at him for, arguing just for the sake of arguing). However, Jade had always had a suspicion Beck thought the brown-haired, Canadian one was hot.

She had actually been watching the show for once though, the other night at his RV, that is, when Beck had started walking his fingers over one of her legs. It had been kind of funny… in a somewhat cute way, she guessed. Well, funny at first anyway. She had pretended to ignore it until his fingers reached closer and closer to the inner part of her thigh and that's when she had turned to face him because, really, there was NO WAY she could ignore THAT. He was kind of grinning, his eyes dark and she thought briefly about smacking his hand away because he was tickling her and she HATED being tickled.

"Is this going anywhere?" She had asked him pointedly, eyeing the position of his hand and then meeting his eyes once more.

"Maybe." He had said, sliding his hand between her legs, but not really touching her THERE, his hand had still kind of been on her leg…

"Stop it, you're tickling me." She had said pulling at his hand. "You know I don't like being tickled. BECK!"

But he had then leaned over and captured her mouth with his and she had instantly shut up because, honestly, Beck Oliver was quite the kisser. Well, Jade was too. She had never kissed herself, but she had had plenty of feedback. She had kissed a few boys in her lifetime, and some of those boys had even been during her and Beck's breakup, not that he needed to know that. Besides, she had nothing to be ashamed of. It's not like she was blind to the fact that Beck had been kissing and texting and who knows WHAT ELSE, with other girls during their breakup. But she digressed…

Beck had somehow maneuvered them so their bodies lined up and he was between her thighs, the whole of his long, lean body pressed against her. For some reason, she had forgotten how skinny he was, when she had wound her legs - which were clad in tights - around his waist, but his body was still hard in all the right places. The way he had been pressing against her chest and tummy and between her legs, had made her breath come in short bursts, made pressure build in places she hadn't felt in that way in… well, months. She had been moaning into his mouth and they had still had all their clothes on. EMBARRASSING.

They hadn't had sex. It was kind of shocking, really. Jade was kind of an insatiable girl in that department. She loved her sex, okay? This was even more shocking when you factored in the fact that she hadn't had sex since breaking up with Beck. She had kissed boys, sure, but she had never gone THERE. Never that far. Not that she couldn't, that is.

She didn't like to think she was as cheesy as she was sometimes, but in all honesty, she really did believe that sex should be between people who love each other. And she had only truly loved one person in her life. In spite of that fact, Beck and Jade still hadn't had sex.

"We're wearing too much clothing…" She remembered mumbling dazedly as their hips moved together, grinding through their clothes like they had never gone past this point before before or something.

"Yeah…" He had groaned. "What are we going to do about that?"

She had reached up to push his hair out of his face and grinned up at him.

"I don't know." She had told him. "What should we do?"

He had studied her for a moment, through a haze of arousal, and she was sure she looked about the same. Hair a mess, lips red and swollen from kissing, eyes dark, mouth gasping for air. He had slowly pushed himself upright to sit and the loss of pressure between her legs made Jade able to think a bit more clearly. She had followed him then, pushing herself with major effort, up into a sitting position.

"Maybe we should just leave it for now." Jade almost hadn't believed it was her who had said it although she had been ninety percent sure he had been thinking the exact same thing. "We don't need to rush it. We…"

"Yeah." He had agreed, knowing exactly what she had been going to say. 'We just got back together.'

And it's strange because Jade knows most couples, especially ones that have been together for years, like them, would probably rush straight back into banging each other brains out after getting back together, especially after a messy breakup. It seemed natural, logical for some reason to reestablish that physical connection, especially when you've been going without it. It's not like you haven't had sex with that person hundreds of times before.

But this felt like the right thing to do.

Or not to do.

Whatever.

"No rush." Jade had reiterated.

"Yeah." Beck had said simply.

And it's funny because both of their voices had had this note of reluctance and disappointment, even as they both knew it was probably for the best. Sex straight away seemed like the first step back into old patterns and routines.

Jade had felt strangely grown up and she wondered what Beck had been thinking because she had never, ever turned down sex before. Ever. Not even when they had had a fight and she was pissed off. Angry sex had kind of been a thing with them for awhile. It had been something they'd used to try and solve problems instead of talking them out. It hadn't been solving them at all though, it had been like ignoring them, sweeping them under the rug, so to speak. It was strange how a breakup could make you see things in a whole new light, both the good and the bad. It made you face them. Mostly unwillingly, but still made you face them nonetheless.

"Isn't that funny?!" Cat is suddenly demanding, her voice rising several octaves and then ricocheting off into that shrill laugh of hers that is distinctly her own.

It's all Jade can do to keep from flinching. She comes back to reality with a small shake of her head and gives a half-hearted laugh, mostly for Cat's benefit. She's still holding her phone and so she decides to watch a video or two while waiting for their teacher to get there. Sikowitz is always late, without fail.

"You're watching that video again?" Suddenly Beck's voice is right next to her ear.

She must have been super engrossed in the video because she hadn't even heard him enter the classroom. She doesn't look at him right away, instead she looks off to the side and notices Tori taking her seat on the other side of the classroom.

"It's hilarious." She then answers her boyfriend, tilting her head backward to see him since he is standing behind her.

He smiles down at her. "You understand it's a video, right? No matter how many times you watch it, it's never going to change. It's always going to play out the same. The old lady is going to fall down the stairs the exact same way every single time."

Jade rolls her eyes and reaches back to punch him in the stomach, without any real force.

"Yeah, thanks, babe." She tells him sardonically. "I really needed you to explain to me how a video works."

"Anytime." He replies and leans down to press a kiss to her lips.

From this angle, the kiss is upside down, and his chin is pressed against her nose and she can't really breathe. Anyone who thinks an upside down kiss is romantic must be on crack, because it's not. It's actually extremely uncomfortable. When he pulls away, they both smile because they already know what the other is thinking. Beck then walks around the chairs so he can take his seat next to her.

"Well, that was awkward." Jade comments.

"Yeah." He agrees, running a hand through his hair. He then reaches for her face, cradling it between his hands, and pulls her to him. "Let's make up for that."

She rolls her eyes, but when his lips are on hers she can't help but reciprocate. Her mouth softens against his automatically and she melts into the kiss with ease.

"Sap." She accuses him, but there's no venom in the words whatsoever. Her eyes are dancing playfully, and he smirks back at her, bops her on the nose with a finger, clicking his tongue just for a sound effect to go with it.

Jade chances a look around and notices straight away that Cat is looking back at them, smiling happily, as if their reconciliation is the best thing that's ever happened to her or something. Jade guesses it would be that way though because Cat had always seemed the most upset by her and Beck's breakup. Jade isn't sure if that's because she can't bear Jade being upset because she's her friend or just because she thinks they belong together. Either way, Jade can always count on Cat to be supportive of her, which is nice, no matter how clueless she is at times.

When Sikowitz finally enters the classroom, Jade reaches her legs across Beck's lap, the way she used to when they were younger. Not in a possessive way, not to make a point, not to be clingy, just because she likes to. It's comfortable, touching him, being close to him, especially now that she can be again. She sees the side of his mouth turn up and he looks at her for a moment out of the corner of his eye, then casually slides a hand down to rest on her legs and turns to face their teacher. Jade smiles contentedly, reaching down to mess with the bracelet he's wearing around his wrist. It helps her concentrate better when she has something to keep her hands busy, she's not sure why.

It feels like everything is as it should be. There's a feeling of completeness because the only thing that ever really seemed to make sense in her life, the only thing that really seemed to be a constant was that Jade loved Beck and Beck loved Jade. It wasn't only that everything seemed to be falling back into place, but it seemed like everything was going to be better than ever. Would definitely be better than ever. Already IS better than ever. Jade can feel it.

xxx


End file.
